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Bringing automatic stereotyping under control: Implementation intentions as efficient means of thought control

Stewart, Brandon D.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1189544075

Abstract Details

2007, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Psychology.
Evidence of automatic racial bias raises the question of whether, and how, unintended biases initiated in milliseconds can be brought under intentional control. Past research investigating people’s ability to control automatic bias has produced mixed findings. The current research tested the utility of an implementation intention, a promising strategy for reducing the effects of automatic bias on behavior. An implementation intention is an if-then plan that links an environmental cue to a specific response; it is hypothesized to automate the execution of the response intention when the cue is encountered. In the first two experiments, participants were asked to identify an object (e.g., gun or tool) after being presented with either an African American or a Caucasian face. Half of the participants formed a counter-stereotypical implementation intention to think the word, "safe", when they saw Black faces. Participants in the control condition received an implementation intention that was not associated with the relevant racial stereotype. These experiments demonstrated that automatic stereotyping was reduced only when participants had formed a counter-stereotypical implementation intention, even though all participants had been warned about being biased. A process dissociation analysis determined the separate contributions of automatic and controlled influences on task performance. The effect of the counter-stereotypical intention on stereotyping occurred via a reduction in automatic stereotype bias and not differences in controlled thinking (Experiments 1 and 2). This was the first demonstration of automatic bias being reduced in this weapon identification paradigm. Experiment 2 showed that this benefit was acquired with little practice and it generalized to novel faces (i.e., photos of Black faces that had not been presented during the intention rehearsal phase). Experiments 3 and 4 examined another consequence of the counter-stereotypical intention, the possibility that it may reduce visual attention to objects associated with the intended social category. In these experiments, a dot-probe methodology revealed that a counter-stereotypical implementation intention reduced visual attention to stereotype-congruent objects after participants had seen a Black individual. Overall, these four experiments demonstrated that an implementation intention may be an effective and efficient means for controlling automatic aspects of thought and for controlling visual attention.
Russell Fazio (Advisor)
107 p.
Psychology, Social
automatic stereotyping; control; conscious intentions; process dissociation; goals

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Stewart, B. D. (2007). Bringing automatic stereotyping under control: Implementation intentions as efficient means of thought control [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1189544075

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Stewart, Brandon. Bringing automatic stereotyping under control: Implementation intentions as efficient means of thought control. 2007. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1189544075.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Stewart, Brandon. "Bringing automatic stereotyping under control: Implementation intentions as efficient means of thought control." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1189544075

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1189544075
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© 2007, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.